Man City 6 Tottenham 0: Sergio Aguero spearheads rout

Sergio Aguero continued his red-hot form by scoring two against a truly woeful Spurs side [ANDREW YATES/AFP/GETTY]

Aguero pounced in each half while Jesus Navas grabbed two of his own to inspire Manchester City to a crushing win at the Etihad Stadium.

The Argentine hitman showed why he is the Premier League's hottest star at the moment by taking his tally to a remarkable 14 goals in the last 11 appearances.

It was an afternoon to remember for Manuel Pellegrini's men and one to forget for Villas-Boas after seeing his side totally destroyed.

Villas-Boas spent more than £100m in the summer. But if he thinks that has turned Spurs into title contenders, he can think again.

Here was the proof and Villas-Boas must have wished the referee was not Howard Webb but Howard Foster, the man who called time on boxer George Groves just down the road on Saturday night.

The visitors were devoid of ideas and character as Pellegrini's men ripped them apart at will with some blistering football to show just how far the London club still have to go before having genuine designs on the big prizes.

Villas-Boas still doesn't even know his best team.

But whatever it is, it wouldn't have made a difference yesterday and the heat is increasing on the Portuguese boss following three league games without a win.

Pellegrini stuck to his guns and kept faith with Costel Pantilimon in goal at the expense of Joe Hart.

Aguero was a constant thorn in the side for Tottenham's back-line [ANDREW YATES/AFP/GETTY]

Hart produced a wonderful display for England in last week's defeat to Germany at Wembley but it clearly made little difference to his club boss.

His message was clear to the Romanian giant - the place between the posts was his to lose.

And judging by Spurs' woeful form in front of goal this season he had nothing to fear here.

Villas-Boas' men arrived in Manchester having scored just nine league goals in 11 games, with only Stoke and Sunderland sporting a worse record.

The Spurs boss made six changes, with Hugo Lloris returning in goal after being knocked out a fortnight ago.

Erik Lamela made his first Premier League start, with England winger Andros Townsend on the bench.

Emmanuel Adebayor was named as a substitute against his former side, who are still paying a substantial part of his wages at White Hart Lane.

City might have suffered on their travels this season but came into this contest boasting a 100 per cent record at home.

It was Pellegrini's men who showed why after making the perfect start with a goal in just 15 seconds.

Lloris was to blame when his poor clearance went straight to Aguero.

Although Lloris did well to keep out the Argentine's shot, Navas was on hand to float a delightful effort back over his head and into the far corner.

The game was being played at break-neck speed, with Aguero threatening to rip the Spurs defence to pieces with his clever running and intelligent vision.

Alvaro 'Beast' Negredo got in on the action with a scorcher from distance [DAVE THOMPSON/PA WIRE]

So it came as no surprise that he was involved in City's second on 34 minutes, chesting down Samir Nasri's cross and when his volley was partially blocked by Lloris, Alvaro Negredo's powerful drive from close range found the back of the net via the legs of Sandro.

A two-goal lead was no more than Pellegrini's men deserved and the challenge for Spurs now appeared to be how to limit the damage.

But even that was beyond them as City rammed in a third four minutes before half-time to leave the visitors dead and buried.

Once again it was fast but simple football from the hosts, with Navas tearing into space behind the hapless Jan Vertonghen at left-back and crossing for Aguero to make it 3-0 from close range.

Cool Roberto Soldado looked lost up front on his own, so there was little wonder Spurs had struggled so much to find the back of the net.

Villas-Boas decided to act and threw on Adebayor at the start of the second half but it made no difference whatsoever.

There was just no stopping City and Aguero, who notched his second with another cool finish on 50 minutes following a powerful run from Yaya Toure.

Nasri hit the bar before Negredo plundered City's fifth, turning Michael Dawson inside out before curling a delightful strike into the top corner.

Aguero was replaced by Javi Garcia with 20 minutes to go and left the pitch to a standing ovation before Navas completed the rout in stoppage-time.